


Sunt Lacrimae Rerum

by kinirohana



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Destroy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Family Issues, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, Post-War, Psychological Trauma, Recovery, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-01-21 09:11:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12454188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinirohana/pseuds/kinirohana
Summary: “You truly believe peace can exist after the Reapers?” His tone carried no small amount of derision.“A myriad of souls gave everything for us to have a chance at finding out. How do you propose we honor them – by letting the wounds the Reapers left define us for the rest of our lives; or to rebel and sacrifice, betting everything on a fool's hope?”Between them, the dusty silence of no-man's-land settled like an iron curtain.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ninaunn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninaunn/gifts).



In the aftermath of the Reaper War, day on Thessia had morphed into a ferrous, dust-choked twilight. The only hint to the sun’s position was hidden in the clouds – the impending sunset began to tint the horizon with rust. A red gloom hung thick over the crushed buildings littering the landscape, the only relief from the desolation being the faint glow of bioluminescent weeds huddled around scarce puddles. Their blue leaves whipped in the wind as a lone levi-cycle shot past.

“Status?” Liara asked. Dust stung sharp on her skin where it snuck past her breathing mask. A few quick taps to the primitive dashboard interface brought up the radar.

“Final coordinates clear. Bring us in.” Javik’s voice was gruff in the comm link. He rode behind her, assault rifle at the ready. Even with the Reapers defeated, Thessia could hardly be called peaceful. Apocalypse had stripped the veneer of moral enlightenment off some asari like an acid wash.

“Acknowledged. Brace for deceleration.” She ordered. For once, he obeyed without comment and tightened his grip on her waist. Dust plumed out behind them, the cycle’s mass effect fields revving against their momentum. Liara’s knuckles ached on the handles as she leaned into a turn. Whether it was from nerves or centrifugal force was not a question she cared to ponder.

Seconds later, their destination spread out before them – the vast, scorched no-man’s land that was once Thrinos, the resting place of Thessia’s greatest daughters. Rows of charred tree trunks and crumbled headstones flew by, gradually becoming distinguishable as they lost speed. Evidence of life’s dogged will to survive bloomed about them as they went deeper into the field. Rambling vines curled over splintered trunks, lichen carpeted the earth, and a few brave flowers bared their faces.

“It should be in this sector. Her followers would have put her as far from the main paths as possible.” Liara barely waited for the cycle’s mass effect field to stop before leaping off. Her omnitool was up in seconds, displaying a map of the graveyard as it once was.

“The scanners are clear, but we should proceed with caution. Rarely is anywhere as abandoned as it seems.” Javik added, dismounting with more care than her. Taking a bullet to the leg on their last recon had incentivized caution, if not humbled his enormous pride. He still rebuffed her offer of assistance.  

“It’s a graveyard. I doubt anyone’s rushing to scavenge the tombstones.” She chided, but adjusted the strength of her kinetic barrier anyway. There were few things more insufferable than a smug Javik. Dealing with a smug Javik and a firefight in a desecrated burial ground was probably one of them.

“In my cycle, the Reapers would scavenge fresh graves to create more husks. The smell was a weapon on its own.” He grumbled, following her over the blackened earth. Perhaps he noted the twitch of her shoulders, as he was unusually swift to add, “I believe the Commander was able to prevent that here.”

“I pray so.” She murmured. Her hand stayed on her weapon as they commenced the tedious search for their objective. Javik kept watch while she bent to inspect the stones. As they went, the earth began to tell a bloody story. Someone had tried to seek refuge in the cover of the trees. The scars of a brute’s charge were plain to see on her left, a biotic explosion indented at its terminus. Had anyone walked away from that?

“Doctor T’Soni.” Javik nearly made her jump with his silent approach. “I believe that rubble has yielded its secrets. Let us advance.”

“Yes, of course. I apologize.” She rose from her crouch and glanced at the battle-scarred earth. “I was just thinking…”

“A habit which has kept you alive this long. But dwelling is not as productive.” He took a cautious step forward in order to seek eye contact. “You will have time enough later. Right now, our goal is clear.”

“A goal I’m beginning to doubt. What did I expect to find here, anyway?” She took a deep breath and tried to channel her anxiety down to her clasped hands. Her will might waver, but her control wouldn't.

“Only you can answer that. But let us find it, or its absence, and be gone from this place. Already I can feel the ghosts pressing on me.”

“I didn’t take you for the superstitious type.”

“I am known to be open-minded.” That drew an undignified bark of laughter from Liara, which in turn earned her a gentle poke from the butt of Javik’s rifle. “Except towards asari who insist on endangering me with their daydreaming. Any sniper worth their rifle would be able to hit us on this plain.”

“Ah, so you’ve uncovered my secret plot to get the apartment to myself. A pity.” She sighed. Javik snorted, sidestepped, and lead the way onward through the silent field.


	2. Chapter 2

“This blasted rubble is impossible.” Javik grumbled. Nearly an hour after their arrival, the search seemed no closer to fruition. “What happened to the map?”

“It's accurate, but the grave we’re searching for is listed under a pseudonym. It’s just my luck that my agent chose the most common family name in Thessia.” Liara lagged behind, her omni-tool conducting rapid scans of several tombstones. All of the landmarks given to her for guidance had been completely leveled, turning the so-called ‘Garden of Eternity’ into nothing more than cracked footpaths and lumps of detritus.

“Then what, exactly, is your brilliant plan for finding the objective?”

“There’s a rare metal from Therum incorporated into the sarcophagus. It’s slightly radioactive, meaning that even if it were destroyed, the fragments would be visible on a scan.”

“Hmph. Primitive inefficiency. Your contact should have recorded the coordinates.”

“That was judged to be an unnecessary risk. Finding the disciples who still honored my mother’s memory was simple enough – ensuring that no hacker could trace data back to them was the tricky part. With the Broker and the matriarchs watching my every move, I had to stay as low-tech as possible. I couldn’t allow them to be killed for a dead woman’s memory.” Liara kept her attention focused on the scanner, ignoring the creeping dread that accompanied any recollection of that period in her life.

“Then Saren was wise to convert your mother, if she was able to garner such devotion even in death.”

“I suppose you could call it her talent. She dedicated everything she had to helping the downtrodden and disenfranchised, and they recognized her for it. Loved her for it.”

“You speak as if such sentiments do not apply to yourself.”

“The topic is contentious. My mother and I were different in almost every way possible. I respected her, but I could no more ignore her flaws than she could mine. It…hurt, when I was younger. For a long time, I believed that she regretted me.”

“Hm…” Javik skirted the perimeter of a fallen obelisk, turning in a circle to confirm negative contact. Once clear, he turned around in time to witness Liara trip over the snarled rebar jutting from the earth. His biotics flared and suspended her on instinct, while his arm darted out and caught her wrist. Electric impulses flashed, pulling him into a vivid memory.

_“Liara…”_

_A doorstep. Home. Thessia, Armali, Old Town district. A fight repeated to the point of exhaustion. Anger flaring hot and bright, her body trembling with it. The hand clutching her luggage aches._

_“Stop, mother, just stop! Stop pretending that your concern goes any farther than your political ambitions! Stop pretending that I’ve ever been anything but a contingency assurance for your legacy! I want nothing to do with it, so just make Varansa your heir and let it be done!”_

_“Liara, that isn’t fair and you know it. I’ve loved you since the day you were conceived.”_

_“Really? Was it love when you missed my valedictorian speech for a phone call? Or all the times in grade school where you scolded my lack of diplomacy instead of the cruelty of the bullies? If that’s your love, mother, I think I’ll survive just fine without it!”_

_Her free hand reaches for the doorknob. Stamp on the regret and guilt, silence it all._

_“Little Wing, please calm yourself. It’s impossible to reason with you when you’re in such a state.”_

_Anger and biotics roar, fall silent. Determination, cold like ice, held as a shield in front of her too-soft heart. So be it._

_“On the contrary, this is the most reasonable I’ve ever been. The only unreasonable one here is you – and I’ve given you 60 years’ worth of chances to prove otherwise. I’m tired of trying to justify your behavior. I’m tired of burying myself in work to avoid coming back to an empty house. It’s high time something changed…I’m just sorry that it had to be me.”_

_“Liara, darling…What do you want me to say? That I’m sorry? That I made mistakes? All the time spent away from home was to secure a safer future for you! For all asari!”_

_The words are old, recycled. Mistakes made but never learned from. How farcical, for a matriarch to be so incapable of understanding a single child. Her child._

_“I know, mother. My respect for you and your work will never waver. But reiterating the same fight ad infinitum does neither of us any good. I’ll be leaving for a new position at the University of Serrice tomorrow. If you care to see me off at the space port, my ship departs at 07:00.”_

_“Liara, I…” Benezia sighed and bowed her head. “I beg you not to go…but if you feel that you must, I will not interfere. But know that you will be in my prayers every day, Little Wing. I’ll see you tomorrow.”_

_“Goodbye, mother. Go with the Goddess.” Feet heavy with regret and fear, but head held high and shield clutched tight. Her hardest decision. Her best decision._

_But maybe if I’d stayed…_

“You would not have changed her fate.” Javik released her wrist slowly, mind racing to comprehend all that he’d seen and felt. The memory had captivated him. “Speculation only serves to weaken your resolve and feed your doubts. You must choose – do, or do not. Nothing else matters.”

“Javik, let it be.” She demanded, idly rubbing her wrist to return the circulation. “Please. I’ve made up my mind. As you said, all that matters are my actions.”

“As you wish. But I must warn you – do not be naïve enough to believe that this forsaken pile of rubble will change anything. Treachery leaves deep wounds.” He gave her one final, stern glare before hefting his rifle and marching on. Liara mentally sighed. Experience has taught her the few Spartan, barbed ways in which Javik allows himself to express concern. The harshest critiques came from his most painful mistakes.

“I’m not looking for a miracle. I’m looking for a place to start directing my efforts. I know that I’ll have to fight twice as hard as I did in the war if I’m to have any hope of peace.”

“You truly believe peace can exist after the Reapers?” His tone carried no small amount of derision.

 “A myriad of souls gave everything for us to have a chance at finding out. How do you propose we honor them – by living our lives trapped by the wounds the Reapers left; or by struggling and defying them at every turn on a fool’s hope?”

The dusty silence of no-man's-land settled between the hunters like an iron curtain. Liara buried the niggling worry that she’d just said something massively stupid. She’d only spoken the truth – that such a choice lay before them. Just as with his sharp remarks on treachery, it was up to the listener to heed what he would.

“…Tell me, Doctor.” Javik stopped and pinned her with a piercing stare. “Do you feel the need to make penance to the dead? To mortify yourself for failing to save them? What purpose does coming here to dwell on that despair serve?”

“My people have an old saying: An enemy unmasked is an enemy destroyed. The way I see it, the only way forward from here is to face the things that still haunt me, stare them down, and dissect them piece by piece. I believe you once mentioned the fates of those who don’t understand their enemies…?”

“They are killed.” Javik seemed caught off guard even as he spoke. All four eyes narrowed as he realized the trap he’d stumbled into.

“Yes.”

“…Perhaps there is some wisdom to be found in the mire of asari sentimentality.”

“I’m glad you think so.” Liara preened slightly before turning her gaze back to the rusty horizon.


	3. Chapter 3

  
“This is it.” Liara stated, her head bowed as she silenced the chirping of her omni-tool’s scanner. Their destination was hidden at the base of a small hill deep within a thicket of charred tree trunks. The white stone of Benezia’s grave was bright like bone amidst the dead landscape. It made her skin crawl.

She spared her surrounding a perfunctory glance – a quick sweep to check for enemies and little more. She did not expect the cold wave of dreadful recognition that swept over her crest and down her spine. Shrouded in gloom as they were, the jagged tips of the trees echoed the shape of dragon’s teeth. The anxiety of an animal caught in a trap twisted her gut as she clenched her teeth and marshalled her focus. This grove had surely been beautiful when her agent chose it. Beautiful, peaceful, and most of all – far removed from public view. Those had been her instructions. It was pathetic to start regretting them because of a childish unease.

“I will establish a perimeter.” It was a flimsy excuse to leave Liara with her ghosts, but an appreciated one. Some of the tension left her when she thought of the improvement his social manners had made since their argument on the Normandy. An improvement most accurately measured in nanometers, yes, but regardless.

“You don’t have to go.” She holstered the pistol she’d been keeping at the ready and knelt beside the tomb. It was an above-ground structure of unremarkable design, bearing little adornment beyond an inscription and the traditional symbols of the Athame Doctrine. So far, everything was as she had designated and largely undamaged. It probably said a lot about her that that only intensified her suspicions.

“To ignore one’s surroundings is to invite an ambush. I have not survived this long to be taken out by common bandits.” Javik took off immediately after finishing his statement. Their dun camouflage worked almost too well – she barely caught the flap of his cloak before he slipped around the edge of the little hill.

“Some things never change, do they?” She sighed. Thankfully, the profound emptiness of the graveyard didn’t answer. It eased a worry she refused to fully acknowledge – during her undergraduate excavations, it had been a source of great pride to be the only one unperturbed by the silence of the dead. Now, she wondered if she perhaps owed that less to bravery than to ignorance.

Either way, nothing would come of spacing out. She rallied her focus and began her inspection of the tomb. It was soon obvious that it was not as untouched as she’d originally believed. Several corners had been blasted off, there were bullet holes in the northeastern wall, and a thick web of cracks riddled the foot of the structure. If she was going to proceed as planned, she would need the more powerful scanners in Glyph’s platform to evaluate the damage. She swung her backpack onto the ground and released the drone.

“Greetings, Dr. T’soni. I am pleased to see you faring well after such a long, bumpy ride.” Glyph zoomed up to eye level and bobbed in greeting. If she didn’t know any better, she would have suspected that her drone was sassing her.

“I’m sorry, Glyph, but you know how the old motorcycles are for stability. Were you hurt?”

“Not at all, Doctor. I am ready to be of assistance.” 

“Thank you. I’ll try to drive a little smoother on the way back. For now, I need a structural analysis of this tomb – I need to know how bad the damage is, whether opening the seal on the lid will cause damage, and if so how much.”

“Certainly, Doctor. Please wait a moment while I conduct your requested diagnostics.” Glyph said before zipping off like a hummingbird. Behind her, the tell-tale hum of Javik’s particle rifle broke the silence.

“We are clear for the moment. It would seem to be as you said – there is little of value to lure scavengers to this place.” Javik caused a small avalanche of rubble as he sat down upon a slab of crumbled concrete. He chose to leave his rifle within hand’s reach rather than holster it, a signal Liara took note of.

“But something still concerns you.”

“The buildings to the southeast were emitting radio signals. It is likely they are inhabited. I suggest we do not linger long enough to discover by whom.”

“Agreed. This place has seen far too much violence already.” Liara said. They soon settled into silence as Javik began fighting with a packet of rations. She pulled a lantern out of her pack and adjusted the strength and shutter so that she would have just enough light to work by if Glyph gave the go-ahead. 

“Doctor T’Soni, I have completed the scans you requested. Shall I report my findings?”

“Please, Glyph. What’s the situation?”

“Luckily, most of the damage inflicted to Lady Benezia’s tomb is cosmetic. It is structurally weakest in the southern wall, where several fissures could critically compromise its integrity if not braced carefully. Shoring it up with a biotic field will increase the chances of a successful operation by 46.253%, whereas conventional methods would yield an increase of 28.411%. I am able to run further computations upon request.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Glyph. That will be all for now.”

"Very well, Doctor. I will be on standby if you require further assistance.”

“What are you planning?” Javik queried, his words drawn out by heavy suspicion. All four eyes locked onto her with deadly precision.

“I’m going to open it.” She responded simply, ignoring his glare in favor of opening her tool case. She hefted a mechanical chisel in one hand, the weight familiar – heavy if only for its sentimental value. It was nearly as old as herself - a gift from back when her mother had been the center of her universe. She still remembered the joke Benezia had made about breaking Liara’s monopoly on their gardening tools, the curve of her smile, the smell of her perfume. And despite how fond the memories were, she couldn’t find it in herself to take comfort in them. Using a beloved childhood gift to exhume the evidence of her matricide was one hell of a twisted trick of fate.

“Open it? Why? The stench will travel for miles.” He questioned, all four eyes honing in on the grave. She ignored him in favor of arranging the rest of her tools.

“I’m surprised that you have to ask. You were the one who suggested my agents may have betrayed me.” 

“Is there cause to distrust their work?”

“Some. There are…Rather, there _were_ some very powerful people with very strong opinions about my mother’s legacy. After Saren’s invasion of the Citadel, Benezia was posthumously convicted of high treason and exiled from Council space. But, in order to conceal the truth about the Reapers and indoctrination, the asari councilor went even further than that. She concocted a ridiculous, insulting story about my mother siding with Saren in a bid to restore the Athame Doctrine to its former glory by any means necessary. It was a brilliant political move. My mother had an incredibly controversial stance, one which garnered her a lion's share of enemies. Tevos barely had to lift a finger before those vultures were capitalizing on the ammunition and stoking public opinion in their favor. Any of my mother’s followers who refused to publicly renounce her risked ostracization at best, charges of collusion at worst. I wouldn’t blame anyone for crumbling under that kind of pressure. But the grave is here, with the alloy and inscription I provided. That’s reason to hope.” Liara concluded quietly. 

“Hmph…You have undertaken a great deal of effort on behalf of a mother you claim not to love.”

“I never said-“ Liara stopped to glare at Javik. Her nose screwed up in frustration as she sighed. “I never meant to imply that I do not care for my mother. I do. I just…”

“You believed her to be above all the petty machinations and arrogance you loathed. She was the pillar, the paragon, the center of all that you knew to be true and good. And now you must face the reality – that she was all of that, and still failed the test. It is…how do the humans say? ‘Complicated’?” Javik tilted his head to one side and made brief eye contact with her. The patience in his gaze surprised her.

“Yes. Very, very complicated.” Liara lowered her head for a moment, contemplative and mournful. The chisel lay motionless in her hands. “You read all of that from one touch?” 

“I can feel it from here. Your anxieties swarm around you like flies.”

“Well, that’s a pleasant mental image…” Liara kept her head down to hide the tiny smile pulling at her lips. It broke the spell of melancholy and allowed her to refocus on completing her task. She put out one hand and surrounded the southern wall of the tomb in a non-violent variation of a stasis field. Once she was satisfied that it would hold, she took up a miniature saw and began cutting away at the seal holding lid to body. “Have you ever considered going into poetry after our book is done?”

“I would rather eat ash.” The dour tone of his displeasure made it hard to keep a straight face. Still, for all that she might snicker, she was not out to mock him. Her next suggestion was delivered with nothing but honesty.

“A lament for the Empire, perhaps? Your mission is, after all, to be the voice of your people. That doesn’t have to end with our book.”

“You still have much to learn if you believe such a static tribute would be worthy of my people.”

“Or perhaps I believe that your perspective is valuable regardless of medium.”

“You would be one of few.”

“Not necessarily. But I do have to offer something in return for all of the times I’ve let Grunt play with your rifle.” 

“…You are joking. Good.” Javik, having whirled around to snarl before his senses took in her poorly-disguised mischief, deflated with a frustrated growl. “I had not thought you suicidal.”

“And here I thought we asari were the gullible ones…” She looked up from her work with a perfect imitation of Shepard’s best shit-eating smirk. The long-suffering sigh that rushed out of Javik’s chest made her snicker. For a long while after that, all that echoed in the small hollow was the steady buzzing of Liara’s tools. She switched and combined as necessary, giving the southern side her most careful touch when she finally reached it. An acrid cloud of concrete dust hung thick in the hollow. 

“There we go…” She sighed as the last lines finally connected. She took a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow and step back to admire her handiwork. Then, she promptly gagged as the stink of rotting flesh broke through the dust. She scrambled to pull out her breathing mask, hacking like a cat with a particularly offensive hairball.

“I warned you.” Javik gloated from his safe position several meters away. His own mask was already securely in place. And, just as she had predicted at the start of this search, his smug grin was as insufferable as it was rare. Only her still-roiling stomach stopped her from lobbing a nasty biotic field at him.

“Dear Goddess, this is why I prefer archaeology…” Liara moaned as she did her best to swallow the bile rising in her throat. Focus. Deep breaths. Clean air, deep breaths, calm mind. Her meditation continued until her stomach settled and she could regain fine control over her biotics. They lit the area around them in ice-cold light as she gently levitated the lid up and to the side of the grave.

“Alright…” She stepped forward with caution, as if she truly did fear some Reaper creation leaping out. She nearly yelped when Javik appeared from thin air at her side.

“The talk of Reaper grave-scavenging has gotten to you.” He remarked. The corpse inside was no more impressive than he’d imagined. Shrunken features, discolored skin, burial clothes designed to hide the bullet wounds that surely riddled the body. What resemblance he’d seen in the photos attached to Shepard’s mission report for Noveria had disappeared.

“Not exactly.” She murmured quietly, her voice low with sorrow as she trailed one hand along the edge of the wall. “I just had to see her. To be sure. I was with Shepard when Sovereign reanimated Saren’s corpse. The idea that my mother might have been made into…into that…” She gulped down a deep breath and braced a hand on her forehead. Shut her eyes and ignored the resurging memory of the tree trunks and dragon’s teeth. She wasn’t the soft, jittery side-kick anymore. She would not lose control. 

“There is always a possibility that your worst nightmare has come to pass. Are you prepared to face that?”

“I-I don’t know. I don’t think you can really prepare for something like this. But the truth is what it is, whether I bury my head in the sand or not. At least by facing it, I can prevent it being used against me.” Liara said quietly, her head still bowed.

“I must admit, Doctor, I am impressed by this newfound wisdom of yours.” Javik mused conversationally. Without waiting for her retort, he stepped forward and initiated a scan of the body with his omni-tool. Liara blinked, caught between a flutter of pride and the urge to punch him in the kidney while his back was turned.

“The scan is complete.” Javik turned back to her and projected the results onto a 3D display generated by his omni-tool. “It would seem the Reaper did not deem your mother’s obedience mission-critical. Her body is her own.”

“Really?” She darted forward to confirm the results for herself. Relief and joy overwhelmed her pride in a brilliant burst of emotion. Though decay and damage from their fight mottled the body, the skeleton was intact. The only metals to be seen were the frame of the burial headdress and the tell-tale shape of a biotic amp implant. She leaned forward and directed the interface to zoom in on the supposed amplifier, irrational anxiety twisting her gut for a moment.

“She died as an organic. It is a better fate than most.” Javik concluded solemnly, turning his gaze to watch Liara’s reaction as she filtered through the data and compared it to her own. He bore her crushing grip on his wrist in silence. 

“Yes…It is.” Liara . One of the terrors stalking her nightmares could finally be laid to rest. She gave Javik a grateful smile, her eyelashes just the barest bit damp. “Thank you.”

“This is assuming that your agent did not betray you – can you confirm this corpse’s identity?” He closed the display and allowed his arm to fall back to his side. Liara released him without even the smallest gasp of surprise. Perhaps he’d been mistaken to believe it an unconscious act.

“It’s her. I’d recognize those freckles after a thousand years. Her biotic amplifier’s serial number checks out as well.” Liara lowered herself to the ground and began rummaging through her bag. “Do you remember the ceremony we attended in London after Shepard was released from the hospital?”

“I find forgetting to be the greater challenge. What of it?”

“Hackett took me aside during the reception, right when Grunt and Wrex had everyone distracted with their ‘display of time-honored Krogan tradition’.” A wry smirk twisted her lips at the memory – for all she feigned disapproval, there was a special place in her heart for the reckless antics of their krogan comrades.

“It was a fine contest, if prematurely curtailed…”

“I find it difficult to call anything involved seven ambulances and 500,000 credits worth of property damage ‘prematurely curtailed’.” Her smirk turned into a full-on smile as more memories of the Normandy’s outrageous crew echoed in her mind.

“The krogan queen called off the contest before a victor could be decided. Massani somehow twisted that to mean he collected all of the profits from the betting pool.” Javik huffed.

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t share your disappointment. Eve’s restraint is the only hope the krogan have for a future.” Liara made a soft exclamation as she finally found what she was looking for. A small, black box rested in her hands when she stood up again.

“I presume that is related to the prime minister’s request?” 

“Protheans are observant.” She recited the old line with a smirk. The hinges of the box squeaked as Liara opened it. “But, yes. This is also part of why we came.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter has killed me and now I am dead. It feels very incomplete and halfassed even tho I spent like two months working on it >> #authorproblems
> 
> Please let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> A fic inspired by the amazing Ninaunn's piece, "That Hunts on a Lonely Hill". Please give it a read if you haven't heard of it, it's truly wonderful!


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